Buying, Storing & Cleaning Mussels

Mussels are alive when you buy them. When buying mussels ask to see the tag with the harvest date. They must have it by law. Buy fresh smelling tightly closed mussels. If they stay open they are dead. Store unclean or cleaned mussels tightly packed together in a pan. Cover only with damp paper towels. Never Plastic Wrap. They are living & need to breath. Clean by soaking in water with a few tsp cornmeal for 10 min. This will cause them to spit out sand. Drain & rinse. With pliers pull off any beards growing out the side. Always pull straight out. Try to clean the mussels within 24 hrs of serving. You will need 3# mussels

White Wine Garlic

2 tsp chopped garlic

2 tsp chopped shallots

2 T olive oil

½ cup dry white wine

4 T canned chopped tomatoes

2 T butter

Cook chopped garlic & shallots in oil until it smells good. Add mussels & cook 30 seconds. Add tomato, wine and butter. Bring to boil, cover & simmer until all mussels open, about 2 min. Add a pinch of your favorite herb. Place a few pieces of bread in each bowl. Divide the mussels over and pour all the broth over the top. This will soften the bread. Serve and Enjoy!!!!!

Bread

Baguette, foccacia or artisan bread torn into 1 inch pieces. Toast in the oven until light brown. Let sit out at room temperature for a day to dry out and become crusty.